


Satisfaction

by HOMOGRIMOIRE



Series: Eerievember2020 [2]
Category: Nier Gestalt | Nier Replicant | Nier (Video Games)
Genre: Eerievember2020, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Character Death, Read the spoiler in the beginning notes for more info on that, Unnamed Scientists - Freeform, this is only nier fandom because i make use of some of its world, you'll be fine if you don't know any nier info
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27364765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HOMOGRIMOIRE/pseuds/HOMOGRIMOIRE
Summary: Day 2 - The Mass Sea Level Fluctuation Event of 2004In light of the world being thrown into chaos, the sea level has begun to fluctuate. A group of lone scientists study the phenomenon. Together, they find a certain truth.
Series: Eerievember2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997011





	Satisfaction

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so glad the NieR timeline allowed for this to happen. Also, the song I listened to for this fic was Hai Ippai no Kinzoku by Susumu Hirasawa. SPOILER: the scientists will end up not being alive. I just wasn't sure it counted as major character death though. But, it's not graphic or shown or whatever. Just wanted to clear that up. END SPOILER. Now, please enjoy this.day's prompt!

June 12, 2003. This is the day the world changes forever. Well, it is the day this world changes forever. Then again, the world is always changing forever, isn’t it?

Regardless, the end of humanity begins. And despite that, humanity still wastes time trying to understand why the world is ending. That’s not to say it’s a complete waste. It just may end up saving them. After all humans wouldn’t have survived so long or advanced so far without their curiosity.

Some humans have a saying: Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back to life. Unfortunately for them they are rarely satisfied when their curiosity kills them, nor are they cats. That’s probably a part of a reason they largely have dropped that last part. So, it won’t be surprising to see what happened to these humans in particular.

January 7, 2004. This is the day a group of scientists in the north pole notice that the sea level is continuing to rise. They think nothing of it. The world has been warming at an alarming rate, even before The Giant had appeared. This is nothing new. A month later, it continues to rise. They see that the rate is above average, but they aren’t suspicious of it. Sometimes the rate at which the sea level rises is higher than usual. Sometimes it’s lower.

February 27, 2004. The sea level begins to fall. Over the next month, it falls a full seven inches. Where did all that water go? They wondered. It couldn’t have just disappeared, right? Could it have something to do with the collapse of society? With the creation of magic? A freak incident involving the nature of the Earth? They don’t know.

As scientists, they  _ must  _ know. This group is particularly enthusiastic to find out why, by any means necessary. Perhaps it is salt that covers ground instead of snow that spurns them into fervor. After living lives they perceive as dull, they want to do  _ something _ . Anything that will have made it feel worth living. They love their work, as monotonous as it has been. But now? When a contagious disease turns people into salt persists, they know their time is limited. So now, they will love their work more than anything.

June 2, 2004. The sea level begins to rise. Over the course of the month, it rises a full fourteen inches. Where did all this water come from? They obviously think. There exists no record in history of an event like this. Major flooding has happened along the coasts of the world, they have heard. That’s expected. The seven inches that were lost returned. That was expected to happen eventually, just not so soon. The additional seven inches is entirely unexpected. Where did  _ that  _ come from? They wonder. 

July 1, 2004. Four of them run ideas back and forth. Could there have been water trapped under the ocean that has risen thanks to the record tectonic activity? No. Well, maybe. They shelf that idea for future use. It had been raining a lot recently. That is it. It still didn’t exactly answer where the water came from. The world hadn’t cooled enough for that. 

Their last member finally speaks up. Many humans turned to salt. What do human bodies mostly consist of? This scientist asks the others solemnly. They want to argue something. It’s magic, the laws of the universe don’t really apply to it, they get turned into salt entirely.

They don’t refute the theory though. It goes against their nature. It is a nature built upon well established rules, rules that have since been thrown out the window.

That scientist was correct. In the process of chlorifying, water is released in the form of vapor, like the soul rising into an unknown, hoping to be satisfied. 

August 15, 2004. A massive earthquake centered in the Pacific shakes the world, and the sea level falls nine and three-fourths of an inch. Tsunamis rock the coasts, but do negligible damage. Negligible in the sense that most do not care about the damage done there. 

People had since moved more inland. The ocean had become something to fear even more than before. Ever since the birth of White Chlorination Syndrome, the sea’s salinity had been on the rise. Only now did it make sense. The particles that infected humans were now present in the ocean. 

Wildlife died in unprecedented numbers. The sixth mass extinction was happening before humanity’s very eyes, and they were a part of it. But, as humanity always does, it tries to find a way to survive. The humans of this specific timeline are no different. They hope to survive.

October 24, 2004. This team of scientists hijacks an experimental submarine. How they do it is impressive, but irrelevant and surprisingly boring. With this equally impressive and not equally irrelevant or boring piece of tech, they travel from Hawaii to the earthquake’s epicenter to investigate. Ever since the earthquake, the sea level had been steadily falling. 

They theorized it was draining at or near the epicenter of the August 15th earthquake. When the world is ending and the laws of the universe go with it, any theory is a sound one.

October 31, 2004. They conclude that the sea level has begun to rise once more as they rise with it. The extra provisions they packed will prove useful.

November 6, 2004. Two scientists get married.

November 9, 2004. An influx of magic is detected. 514 miles east, 3000 miles down, about 3043.7 miles total. With an average travel speed of 20, that would take about 151.7 hours, or about 6.5 days. 

November 12, 2004. Two more scientists get married. This leaves one unmarried.

November 13, 2004. The unmarried scientist confesses his love for two of the married scientists, each from a different couple. In the end, the two decide to share the final scientists. This day, they allow themselves to rest. They all rest together, happily, content, and satisfied as the ocean rises and falls ever so slightly like the chest of a sleeping man.

November 14, 2004. The scientists find themselves at the epicenter, according to their sensors. How they managed to drift so far is unknown to them. There is no light that can pierce the darkness there. All they have is the sensory equipment on the submarine. 

The floor, at first, appears to be breathing rising and falling like a uniform wave. A finer look reveals it is individual, irregularly shaped plots of floor that move in sync to create a wave motion. 

Another earthquake. The sensors indicate they move further from the epicenter. The crew of lovers celebrate their discovery.

November 19, 2004. Their research has indicated that the motions are not natural. They are mechanical. Their theory is that it is the result of magic. The trace amount of metals from the deceased’s bodies are gathered here. The purpose of the structure and its extent is unknown.

November 21, 2004. Three structures arise from the mechanical sea floor. They are affectionately nicknamed Meat Box, Soul Box, and God Box. They are connected to each other as if hand in hand. They all connect back to the mechanical floor like a baby’s umbilical cord.

December 8, 2004. Together, they decide to live the rest of their lives, however long that may be, in the machine boxes. Everything is set.

December 9, 2004. They enter the Soul Box, hand in hand. For the next week, they explore their discovery. It is less scientists studying a new, mysterious structure, and more akin to lovers enjoying their time together. 

-

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back to life. These scientists were not cats. They would not come back to life. But, they didn't want to, didn’t need to. They were satisfied. Satisfied more than they could have ever hoped. Together, they became the most satisfied set of humans us recorders have ever known, in life, and in death. I imagine they are very satisfied in the afterlife as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Too often is death feared and viewed as a bad thing. Yeah, it can be bad, but death is much more feared than it should be, in my opinion. That being said, I feel this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ploqPwUfxiI. djladjaofld, I joke. Jokes aside, a good death is one where life is loved and lived well. Well, in a perfect world. Still, death should be revered as a celebration of life. I guess that's probably the Mexican in me speaking though. Well, you'll have your views on death, and I'll have mine, and I have lots to say, but not all here. Also, I felt kinda weird to have a happy ending for a creepy prompt, but lol. It's what happened. Lastly, thanks for reading.


End file.
